Magruder Limestone, LLC has opened its case to the Sunrise Beach Planning Commission for a conditional use permit (CUP) to operate an asphalt plant at 12729 N. State Hwy. 5.

Owner Mark Magruder offered up more detail about what the company is proposing at City Hall on Monday night.

The company was awarded a construction bid from the Missouri Department of Transportation to overlay nearly 28 miles of Hwy. 5 in Morgan and Camden counties and widen the roadway within that stretch, adding four foot shoulders where there are none now.

The company wants to quarry the rock and produce the asphalt all at one location instead of hauling rock to another site for the process.

An asphalt plant was formerly operated at the Magruder quarry in Sunrise Beach by another company but lost its nonconforming preexisting status for the industrial use on commercial property under the zoning ordinance after being out of operation for more than six months.

The proposed plant would be located at the quarry but in a different location within it, according to Magruder. Instead of being up on the hill, it will be down in the hole created by the quarry.

The old plant was approximately 600 feet from the closest neighbor. The proposed plant would be around 1,200 feet away, he said.

A newer type of plant that runs more efficiently would also be utilized, according to Magruder.

He said the plant would have a bag house which acts like a vacuum cleaner to suck in emissions produced by the manufacturing process and remove particles from the air before it releases out of the stack as steam.

The proposed plant has passed the stack test per Missouri Department of Natural Resources regulations, according to Magruder.

That does not mean odor will be eliminated, he said.

Tar and additives that are part of the manufacturing process have an odor. Magruder said the product for this project should require a smaller percentage of the additive than has been used at the site in the past.

Local businessman and engineer Matt Marschke spoke in support of the proposal, saying the more efficient plant and lower elevation would lessen the odor and noise for residents nearby.

With a CUP, the plant operation would be temporary.

Magruder is requesting to set up the plant in June to run July-December 2013.

About 100,000 tons of mix would be required for the overlay and shoulder project, he said.

Magruder said the company has an alternative site in Morgan County — where there is no planning and zoning - for the asphalt plant, but that would mean all the aggregate for making the asphalt would have to travel between the locations.

With mining for the project, Magruder anticipated going another 40 feet down from the current lowest part of the floor.

Page 2 of 2 - Other testimony, including any opposition, will have a chance to be heard at a public hearing Monday, Jan. 7. Because of past complaints with the industrial use at this location from nearby residential and business property owners, the city is planning to hold the hearing at the Sunrise Beach Fire Protection District Administration Building meeting room, a larger venue than City Hall. The hearing will begin at 6 p.m.

Odor and noise complaints were two of the issues residents had in the past with the old asphalt plant.